In an assessment from an international team of polar scientists- a consortium of 89 polar experts from 50 international organizations- who have reviewed satellite observations over a period of 26 years, Greenland’s contribution to sea-level rise seven times faster than it did in the 1990s. Currently tracking what had been the worst-case scenario, ocean rise can now be expected to reach seven centimeters by the end of the century from Greenland’s ice caps alone.
Greenland exists in a part of the globe that has seen a 0.75C temperature rise in just the past decade. In the early 90s, the rate of loss was equivalent to about one millimeter per decade.
Millions living in low-lying coastal regions will be at an increased risk of flooding. This adds to the existing billion people currently living less than ten centimeters above high-tide lines. Of that billion, 250 million live below one meter.
“Storms, if they happen against a baseline of higher seas will break flood defenses,” said Professor Andy Shepherd of Leeds University. “The simple formula is that around the planet, six million people are brought into a flooding situation for every centimeter of sea-level rise. So, when you hear about a centimeter rise, it does have impacts,” he added, according to BBC News.
First published in print by The Stillman Exchange on December 16, 2019.
